The crust for this pizza stemmed from my new obsession: garbanzo bean flour. Lauren and I tried making our own by grinding dried chickpeas, but that resulted in a broken magic bullet cup, which is a huge no-no when you and your roommates use it ten times daily. Moral of the story…buy it pre-ground!

I usually use 1/2 cup, which has 210 calories, 10 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein. WOAH– those are some fab stats!

I first started reading about cooking with garbanzo bean flour from Ashley and Chelsey, and they inspired me to buy a bag and experiment for myself. I highly recommend Chelsey’s mexican socca pizza. It is extremely easy to throw together and it tastes divine. Topped with some avocado and hot sauce = pizza perfection.

I was craving italian flavors, so I added some herbs to the garbanzo bean flour and water base. Top that with homemade or store-bought pizza sauce and veggies of choice (like sautéed mushrooms and spinach) and you have healthy pizza in a snap.

Spinach and Mushroom Chickpeatza

For the crust:

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp sea salt

Heat a sprayed pan on medium heat. Mix together batter ingredients and pour into pan. Cook until bubbly–the edges should start to come off the pan. Once you’ve confirmed that the other side is golden brown, flip it over. Cook for a minute or two more and then remove from pan.

For the sauce:

I used the tomato sauce recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance and it was to die for. I basically sautéed fresh garlic in a bit of oil and added a can of plum tomatoes (that I crushed in my hand) with half of the tomato juice. I added oregano, thyme, salt and pepper, cooked it down for ten minutes and voila! Homemade sauce. You can always use store-bought pizza sauce for convenience, too.

For the toppings:

I sautéed about a cup and a half of mushroom in a bit of oil and fresh garlic. I also added spinach for some green!

Assembly time!

Half eaten and topped with nooch. Or add cheese if you’d like!

Did I mention that this pizza is not for sharing? It’s not like you’d want to anyway.

Drumroll please….

Spinach and Mushroom Chickpeatza

Nutrition Facts

Calories

416.6

Total Fat

13.6 g

Cholesterol

0.0 mg

Sodium

881.7 mg

Potassium

1,013.5 mg

Total Carbohydrate

59.4 g

Dietary Fiber

19.4 g

Sugars

15.4 g

Protein

20.8 g

+ 162.9% of the daily value of Vitamin A, 56.2% DV of Vitamin C, 31% DV of calcium and more than half (51.7%) the DV of iron!

My favorite hot cocoa is downright delicious, super simple to make, and boasts a mere 92 tiny calories and 10 grams of sugar. How I pack so much chocolately goodness into 92 calories is beyond me.

Trader Joe’s sells my absolute favorite unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It’s the only almond milk that tastes good to me in cereal, and let me tell you, I’ve tried EVERY almond milk. Not to mention that it has the same amount of calcium as a cup of cow’s milk. We have a winner, folks.

Did you know that the United States has a higher recommended Daily Allowance of calcium than most other countries in the world? 50% higher than the British and Japanese, to be exact. Hello, National Dairy Council. Pleased to meet you and your conflict of interest.

“‘Americans, who ingest much higher levels of calcium, have much higher rates of osteoporosis and hip fractures compared with many Chinese and other Asians who consume few dairy products and ingest low amounts of calcium,’ Campbell said. ‘Hip fractures in the United States, for example, are approximately five times more frequent than in China.'”

Three cheers for the fact that a cup of kale has as much calcium as a Chobani yogurt!

Hip fracture, hip fracture, hooray!

My Favorite Hot Cocoa

1 cup milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond)

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2.5 tsp cane sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

dash of cinnamon

1/2 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)

Pour milk into your favorite mug and microwave for two minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Ever since Clean Eating Chelsey inspired me to start the Live Fit program , these What I Ate Wednesdays are more like what did I not eat Wednesdays. I have noticed a lot of great changes, but along with those positive changes comes the fact that I am always hungry, even more so than usual. Sometimes that is a really frustrating feeling, but luckily I’ve mastered the process of learning what fills me up and what doesn’t. It’s ok to embrace the fact that eating nearly an entire block of tofu + a pan of roasted vegetables is better than having a smaller dinner and feeling unsatisfied and snackity all night. And yes, I do still snack throughout the night– a lot!

Back to the good changes. I started the program struggling to do three sets of 12 push ups. On my knees. It was really hard. Now I can do three sets of twelve normal push ups, not on my knees, and I can’t tell you how strong, accomplished and motivated that makes me feel. I think I am also beginning to actually visibly see some results (mostly in my arms), which pushes me to complete the workout each day. I use machines I never thought I would and I’m challenging myself with higher weights that I ever imagined I would be using. I used to do triceps extensions with 12.5 pounds and I now use 20 pounds.

Another wonderful change is that of the decrease in cardio. I think people my age, especially girls, obsess over the number they see next to calories burned at the end of their cardio session. I can’t tell you how many times I got on the arc trainer or treadmill for forty minutes, burned 450 calories, and got off feeling unsatisfied. Was I sweaty? Yes. Was I sore the next day? No. Was I gaining any muscle? Not really. Focusing more on strength training has made me so much stronger in such a short period of time and I never could have accomplished that by doing just cardio. I am not suggesting that one should eliminate cardio from their workout routine entirely, but I will definitley not be doing cardio every time I go to the gym once this program is over. I love waking up feeling sore and knowing I worked muscles in my back that I didn’t even know existed.

I’ll never go back to doing cardio four times a week and doing random bicep, tricep and ab workouts here and there. Yes, I weigh more than I did before the start of the program. But I don’t care about gaining weight. I care about loving the way I look and feel. So here’s to week 5!

Here’s the sitch. I have one exam tomorrow and one Friday + my best friends are visiting tomorrow night. That means no studying tomorrow night. That also means short blog posts and lotsa studying. Kapeesh?

We’re not always that serious.

Much better.

Before we begin, I should tell you that I’ve been a ravenous beast lately. I’ve been doing Jamie Eason’s Live Fit program which focuses on strength training, so my hunger has been through the roof. I eat every two-three hours.

Breakfast

French toast oatmeal with walnuts and maple syrup, eaten on the way to go like my usual rushed self. Do you like my not at all obnoxious green lunch bag in the background? It was 79 cents from Staples.

Morning Snack

Pumpkin protein muffin with sunflower seed butter.

Lunch

Afternoon snack

Berry cocoa smoochie + 2 chocolate covered strawberries. I ran home and made this in between classes and let me tell you, it was worth it (even though I was late to Hospitality Management). We were learning about pork fatback….ew.

Dinner

Ginormous salad with bib lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, almonds and half a block of roasted tofu + 2 dark dove chocolates + an apple. This was already pre-packed with the tofu (which I rushed to roast before work) wrapped in tin foil and the veggies in a baggie. The dressing was packed in a mason jar. I pack at least lunch every day, sometimes breakfast, and sometimes even dinner. #can’tgohomemuststayatlibrary

Library snack

Nugo vegan trail mix and dark chocolate bar + decaf coffee with soymilk. I wouldn’t buy the bar again but I was starving so it held me over till I got home.

Before-bed snack?

I got home from the library at 11:30 and ate like the aforementioned ravenous beast that I am. I had a sunny-side-up egg, Wasa crackers with boatloads of hummus, two dark chocolate-covered strawberries, a handful of blackberries and a couple fingerfuls of sunflower butter.

I love weekend breakfasts because I can actually enjoy what I’m eating and not have to rush out the door for work and then run after the bus because I took too long making breakfast.

Scrambled egg whites with onion, garlic, spinach and tomatoes in a whole wheat pita with hummus? Not a work morning-friendly breakfast. After Lia’s Lazer Craze birthday party she told me I had garlic breath, so maybe I’ll skip the garlic next time.

Prepare flax eggs by stirring flaxseed and water together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, protein powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.

In a blender (I used a magic bullet) combine one cup of milk with the spinach. Blend until fully incorporated. No one wants spinach in their teeth.

Pour spinach milk + other cup of milk, vanilla and flax egg into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed and do NOT overstir!

Now spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter onto preheated pan. Once little bubbles form on the pancakes, they are ready to be flipped. They should be a nice golden brown color. Spray pan between each set of pancakes.

But I’m actually looking at thirteen food blogs. This is what my Business MHR notes look like:

Let me know if you missed class today and need to copy them.

Fried chickpeas > equity principles.

Some one is confused about first and last names. (Her name is Lauren Tonti, not Tonti Lauren. “Smart phone” my arse.)

Dreaming about silken tofu green goddess dressing is fine during class; but have you ever tried walking across campus with your nose buried in twenty-two recipes?

Some time it’s fine. In fact, I’d say I get away with it 95% of the time.

However, 5% of the time, when I’m picturing what I’m going to eat when I get home + what I’m going to cook for dinner + what I’m going to have for breakfast tomorrow + when I’m going to roast my asparagus + when I’m going to make another batch of cookie dough balls + when I’m going to get a fourth job to fund my grocery bills….

Lunch

And an apple after I ran to the bus. Notice the “A.” We have to label everything in our apartment because we now all buy the same exact staple groceries, i.e. spinach, frozen bananas, apples, Amy’s burritos, Ezekiel bread, almond milk, rolled oats, larabars, sunflower butter, maple syrup, greek yogurt, hummus).

Time out. How cute is this baby snowman? Cute enough for me to awkwardly stop and take a picture.

I was famished before dinner so I made a quick pumpkin pie smoothie. If you know me, you know I’m a messy cook.

Dinner

Dinner was unreal. I roasted a pint of cherry tomatoes and about six cloves of garlic. Then I combined them with caramelized onions, fresh basil, spinach and whole wheat pasta.

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Hi foodie friends! Welcome to Hummusapien. I'm Alexis, a 22-year-old dietetic intern and graduate student obsessed with all things food. Join me on the adventure to maximize our healthy potential and maybe eat some hummus, avocado and a bowl of toasted coconut with dark chocolate chips along the way.